CHAPTER VII
RELIEF OF FAMILIES OF MOBILIZED MEN
The Legal Situation.
Ar the beginning of the War the zemstvo appropriated considerable
sums for the relief of families of men called to the colors. Thus, for
instance, the zemstvo board of Samara proposed to the zemstvo as-
sembly that it should appropriate for this purpose the sum of
50,000 rubles. “The men marching off to war must feel reassured
about the fate of their families,” said one of the members proposing
an increase of this appropriation to 800,000 rubles, and he was
heartily supported by the assembly. It should be noted, however,
that at first the zemstvo workers themselves had rather vague ideas
about the nature and the scope of the relief that should be granted.
Under the laws relating to social welfare, it was the duty of the
zemstvos to look after the families of the mobilized members of re-
serve troops. Until 1912, the zemstvos were obliged to provide for
sach adult member of a reservist’s family, from the moment of
mobilization, a monthly food ration of sixty-eight Russian pounds®
of flour, ten pounds of grits (coarse meal), and four pounds of
salt. Cash payments might be substituted for allowances in kind.
This law had been in force during the Japanese War, but already
under the conditions then prevailing, which were in no way com-
parable with those of 1914, it became clear that the burden was be-
yond the financial means of the zemstvos.
After the work of food supply had been taken out of the province
of the zemstvos in 1900, they had no supplies of foodstuffs at their
disposal and were forced to obtain the enormous sums necessary to
ouy the provisions to be distributed among the families of the re-
servists. The zemstvos were forced to draw heavily on their own
capital, and to borrow from the Government. Their indebtedness to
the Government on such loans was considerable and the repayment
imposed a heavy burden upon their budgets.
After numerous petitions requesting the Government to under-
sake the cost of maintaining the families of mobilized men. a law
One Russian pound — 0.9 lb.
